Fred Baier (b.1949) 
Unique office suite, comprising desk, chest of drawers and side table, 1986 

Fred Baier (b.1949) 

Unique office suite, comprising desk, chest of drawers and side table, 1986 
Oak, ebony, ebonised oak, leather 
Desk : 74cm high, 153cm wide, 75cm deep ; Chest : 65cm high, 46cm wide, 51cm deep ; Side table : 43cm high, 58.5cm square (3) 

Provenance 
Acquired as a private commission by the present owner, 1986 

Literature 
John Houston, 'Fred Baier, Furniture in Studio', Bellew Publishing, 1990, illustrated on p.39  
'Business' magazine, June 1990, 'Table Manners' article by Pamela Johnson, desk illustrated p.140 

Footnote 
Fred Baier - 'Unfortunately we live in a world, where for the sake of convenience, everything has to be given a label and you can't believe the hours I spend trying to decide whether I'm an artist or a designer or what the hell I am. Anyway, I do know that I enjoy dreaming up and making usable things and hope that by doing so, I am developing a closer relationship between design and the finer arts.' 

Born in Kingston upon Hull in 1949, Baier studied at Birmingham college of Art and the Royal College of Art, where he graduated in 1976. In a career spanning from the 1970s to the present day, Baier also served as a lecturer at Brighton Polytechnic, the Wendell Castle School in New York State and the Royal College of Art, London. 

Baier's extraordinary body of work is testament to his ability to blur the lines between art and design, to elevate an object often seen (or unseen) as utilitarian to one of great beauty in his own distinctive and visually striking vernacular. It can be said that Baier's conceptual approach combines both exacting science and utter artistic freedom, a combination which leads to intoxicating results, always original and always pushing the boundaries of contemporary craft.

Baier's work is held in several major collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Crafts Council, London and Templeton College, Oxford to name but a few. In 2010, Baier was commissioned by Parliament's Works of Art Committee to create furniture for the Millbank library space. During his research for this commission, he served a six-week residency in the House of Lords library. In 2023, Baier was given the prestigious honour of being elected Master of the Artworkers' Guild.